Contents

Biography

Ares, the god of destruction, desired Soul Edge to dethrone his father, Zeus, so he ordered Kunpaetku, the grand priest of the cult order Fygul Cestemus, to seek it out. Astaroth, a golem, was created in hellish heat under the divine protection of Ares to head up the quest. Kunpaetku ordered his creation, Astaroth, to find the demonic blade. As he watched Astaroth depart from the shrine, the grand priest laughed to himself as he planned to keep the Soul Edge and become a god himself. Unknown to Kunpaetku, however, Ares had possessed Astaroth with his servants, the Keres, to ensure that Kunpaetku would not betray him. When Astaroth finally found Soul Edge, he had lost half of himself during the battle with Sophitia.

Deciding that Ares would not be pleased with the sword in this condition, he agreed to help the Azure Knight, Nightmare, build his power by collecting souls by slaughtering countless victims. As Astaroth was finally ready to betray Nightmare and take the Soul Edge from him, Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi stormed Ostrheinsburg Castle, and Astaroth was killed by Maxi. Four years later, signs of Soul Edge began to re-emerge, and Ares resurrected Astaroth in an attempt to retrieve the evil blade once again. This time, though, his body had been infused with the shards of the Soul Edge, making him more powerful than ever before.

Astaroth had set out on the trail for the evil blade, but a problem arose. The grand priest Kunpaetku had realized his golem was not behaving as originally instructed – that another force now claimed ownership over Astaroth since his initial creation. In order to reclaim Astaroth as his servant, Kunpaetku performed a ritual on the lowest level of the cult's temple and unleashed a powerful curse on him. Astaroth fought back against the curse, for he had become an ideal host for the Keres, because of the fragments of Soul Edge he had taken in during his resurrection. He would destroy anyone who stood in his way, and now the cult had become nothing more than an obstacle in his path. Astaroth entered the temple to destroy the cult once and for all, and his whirlwind of destruction mowed down everything in his path.

The curse had only fueled him with anger, and he was determined to destroy anything and everything he saw. The temple of the heretics had become a crucible of chaos. Astaroth pursued Kunpaetku into the deepest part of the temple, but the grand priest managed to escape at the last minute. Only the words the priest left behind remained, telling him that he was nothing more than a failed doll modeled after a mere human. Astaroth immediately stopped in his tracks, distracted with this new found horrible knowledge, and began to search the temple's archives for his roots. He had been made in the image of a man called only by the name "White Giant." Astaroth destroyed the facility in which Kunpaetku's ritual had been performed, and his curse faded such that he regained his true strength. He then proceeded to destroy the temple completely until it became unrecognizable debris, and nothing was left but chaos and rubble.

Fygul Cestemus had been wiped from history by the very being that they themselves had created. Astaroth stood within the ruined temple, quietly thinking to himself. If the "White Giant" he had been modeled after was as powerful as himself, then that man must surely be the greatest soul on earth, the perfect nourishment to resurrect the Soul Edge back to its full power. Perhaps Astaroth himself did not realize his own hidden desire to destroy the "White Giant" – to make himself a complete creature, unique without any model. The golem set out, his new objective set, disappearing into the mirages in the distance. Behind him was only a column of smoke rising from a ruinous wasteland; in front of him somewhere was the perfect soul.

Astaroth had been unconsciously fighting the thoughts of him being created in the image of the "White Giant". Perhaps because of this, his body has been twisted to the point where he no longer looks remotely human. But then he finally found the White Giant and nearly killed him. Suddenly, he realized that he had been serving Ares all this time. This thought made him insane, and he destroyed the landscape around him.

Then Tira approached him, and told him that she can bring him to a fitting place where he could hunt a god. However, Astaroth can clearly see that she is a very loyal servant of the evil sword, and she was just using him. Then again, she was right about the fact that he needed a better place to find souls. So he went to Ostrheinsburg and became Nightmare's servant once again, only this time, he plans to devour everything; those who descend upon Ostrheinsburg, and even Soul Edge itself.

Soulcalibur II

To infuse the sword with the strength his master desired, Astaroth would pay the ultimate price...

He consumed countless souls, and steeped in their fear, became the sacrificial offering.

No one knew the god of destruction's true desires, but there would be no respite for Astaroth.

His body fused with the malevolent blade, Astaroth was feared as the grim reaper on battlefields for all eternity.

Soulcalibur III

Astaroth walks through the desert, dragging Soul Edge across the ground, before the screen fades to black. When it fades back in, he is seen sitting on a rock when Ares, in the form of a ball of light, appears before him. Astaroth stands up and holds Soul Edge out and says: "Here, I brought Soul Edge!", Ares says: "You did well, Astaroth. Now, offer Soul Edge to me!"

Astaroth chuckles and holds Soul Edge over his head, bending it with all his strength. "This is what you wanted, this worthless weapon?" Soul Edge shatters into several pieces. Ares flies away without a word. "I am the ultimate. I have the power to destroy even Soul Edge!". Astaroth glows with evil energy and laughs.

Astaroth swings Soul Edge around and throws it at Ares' luminous form, causing it to disappear. Soul Edge flies back into Astaroth's hands. "Do not...give orders to me! Ah ha ha ha! Run, run away!" Astaroth holds Soul Edge up high. "A lowly god...does not have the right to own me!"

Soulcalibur IV

Algol falls to the floor on the top of the Tower of Remembrance, with Astaroth looking down on him.Algol: Your power exceeds that of my own. I am impressed!
Algol dies, the power of Soul Edge leaving his body and entering Astaroth, who chuckles.
Astaroth: So this is the power of Soul Edge! No, it's not enough for me. I need more!
Astaroth continues consuming power as the screen fades to black. When it fades back, it shows a giant Astaroth stomping through the Distant marsh
Astaroth: Give me more, I want more!
Astaroth screams, teeming with the power of Soul Edge. The screen fades to black, with a text that reads:"His evil spreads throughout the world. It is the roar that announces the beginning of the dark ages."

Fighting Style

Astaroth is well known in the Soul Series for performing powerful attacks and throw moves. His moves are quite slow in execution however, which leads to him having a disadvantage against faster characters such as Taki. He is most effective when used at long range since many of his attacks utilize that aspect in their properties. Astaroth is somewhat regarded in terms of tournament use between mid to high tier. He fights much like Rock and even has some of the same moves.

Eternal Damnation: Astaroth's Critical Finish in Soulcalibur IV sends his opponent crashing to the ground before he catches them on the end of his axe. He then drags them around the arena before sending them sailing into the air. Astaroth's Critical Finish is shared with Rock and Ashlotte, the only difference being their victory poses and the symbols that appears at the end. (Astaroth and Ashlotte both have their symbols of their cult appear—yellow for the former and violet for the latter).

Breath of Hell: It's a long version of his attack called Breath of Hades. It's not an unblockable attack, but goes to full length even when the enemy is caught in mid-air.

Hades Crush: That's Astaroth's attack in SCIV, but now it is performed way quicker and also causes a tremor.

Tide Rush: That's a Poseidon Tide Rush attack.

Cestemus Doctrine: It's his Critical Edge from Soulcalibur V with a safe start.

Tower Of Lost Souls Details & Skills

Astaroth appears in Tower of Lost Souls Ascend mode as a boss under the floor "Law Of The Earth" as an easy boss but he also appears in other floors such as "Unseen Sickle," "Worshiped Sacrifice," & "Envoy Of Destruction" as a more difficult opponent to defeat. A fighter named Raguel also uses Astaroth's fighting style as a boss under the floor "King Of The Physical Realm".

Relationships

Nemesis of Maxi, by whom he was killed in Soulcalibur and defeated in Soulcalibur IV.

Defeated Rock in Soulcalibur III, who he is modeled after, and almost killed him before the events of Soulcalibur IV.

Was convinced by Tira to become Soul Edge's servant again in Soulcalibur IV.

Ashlotte, who was sent by the Cult, was after him in Soulcalibur IV. According to the new Astaroth's bio in Soulcalibur V, she successfully retrieved the original's "core," allowing for the new Astaroth to be formed.

Faced the Jedi Grand Master Yoda in his Soulcalibur IV intro (Non-canon; Xbox 360 only, but can be downloaded or unlocked in PS3)